It's time for a synthetic oil change! A sentence that I've never been excited for, like going to the dentist. Much like visiting the dentist's office, it's not so much the service of the oil change or teeth cleansing that I'm worried about, it's what can happen in addition to just the basic service, the extra repairs that the mechanics find that "needs urgent repair" and I wind up leaving the repair shop with a much larger bill than I anticipated (or budgeted for), and a gnawing sense that I might not even have needed that repair.
In the case of dentists, it's an easy fix: I stopped going to the dentist! That one time where a dentist asked me for cash to repair lesions in my teeth at an exorbitant rate really traumatized me because I've never trusted any dentists ever again, and pledged to keep my teeth clean on my own. Not the greatest long-term strategy, but so far it encourages me to floss more and self-repair; although maybe one day those wisdom teeth need to come out.
No such luck with car repairs: although I have seen people doing oil changes themselves, it seems like a hassle, requires patience, and the right oil. After dropping my car off, I endure what I imagine must be similar to the feeling after dropping one's kids off at school, a sense of anxiety and dread of something terrible about to happen...and usually at repair shops the bad news arrives in the form of my "friendly" service person informing me of all the necessary repairs and the cost. Oh, the cost......a small portion of the cost is for the actual parts, but the labor cost is how they get you........just like lawyers need to get paid by the hour, the mechanics need to get paid by the hour too, and just like attorneys throwing out fancy legal terms to scare customers into agreeing on services, mechanics giving me terms like "coolant fluid flush," "brake fluid flush," "spark plugs renewal, valve cover gasket leak," and "corrosion on the batteries." They all sound awful, don't they? And that's not even counting the 4-year-old set of tires that had been worried about due to driving in some rough city roads. "Oh no, that's actually fine. We just need to rotate the tires next time you come in." Shrug; shows how much I know about cars.
MJ and I have agreed on our next car being at least a hybrid vehicle, and possible an electric vehicle (if we are lucky enough to get selected from the waitlist). Sure repairs will still be required, but at least we'd be repairing a car we believe in. Not to disparage my 2013 Honda Accord at all, it's actually done a heck of a job (not counting all those repairs we had to do), but it hasn't ever broken down in the middle of the road due to engine failure; only once due to me driving on excessively hot roads and probably literally burning rubber.
Cars are a true weakness for me, so I've brushed up a little on them recently: the definitive history of cars, from the pioneer vehicles to the Ford Model T to the modern electric cars. I often try to look at different cars on the freeway and associate their shape and appearance with their make and model, but the history of cars didn't start with Hondas, Toyotas, Chevrolets, Nissans. The Mercedes-Benz, for example, figured almost as prominently in the early history of cars as the Ford Model T, as well as Cadillac, Rolls-Royce, and even some French brands like Renault and Citroen. Maybe in a different life I could appreciate cars for their elegance and beauty and some super fast cars' ability to get to 200mph. In this life, though, all I see in cars are big lumps of steel transport who sips on ever-more expensive fuel and is full of parts, each of which can cost quite a lot at an auto shop to repair. I wish I was friends with auto mechanics.
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